At a mausoleum in Cairo’s most notorious cemetery, a mercenary receives a package containing a silver test tube suspended in hydraulic stasis.

An investigative reporter tracking rogue biomedical companies is terrified by the appearance of a mummified man outside her Manhattan apartment.

A Bulgarian scientist who dabbles in the occult makes a startling discovery in his underground laboratory.

These seemingly separate events collide when Dominic Grey and Viktor Radek, private investigators of cults, are hired by the CEO of an Egyptian biomedical firm to locate stolen research integral to the company’s new life extension product. However, after witnessing the slaughter of a team of scientists by the remnants of a dangerous cult thought long abandoned, Grey and Viktor turn from pursuers to pursued.

From the gleaming corridors of visionary laboratories to the cobblestone alleys of Eastern Europe to a lost oasis in the Sahara, Grey and Viktor must sift through science and myth to uncover the truth behind the Egyptian and his sinister biotech – before that truth kills them.

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About The Author

Layton Green is a prolific traveller, having visited more than fifty countries and lived in several of them, although at the present time, he is living with his family in Miami, Florida, USA.

During his travels, Layton has held down a number of diverse and varying jobs, although he is a qualified and once practicing attorney, having attended law school in New Orleans.

With his love of all things spiritual and supernatural, his deep interest of religion and cults, together with his passion for Japanese Jujitsu, it is quite easy to see where Layton found his inspiration for his character ‘Dominic Grey’ and the genre in which Dominic’s adventures will be set.

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My Thoughts About The Book

I have been eagerly waiting for this second adventure in the ‘Dominic Grey’ series, ever since I was given the opportunity to advance read Layton Green’s first book ‘The Summoner’, where we were introduced to this great character.

The final cover art for ‘The Egyptian’ was only decided a couple of weeks ago and is fantastic, much more life and intrigue than the first pass, which can be found on earlier promotional material.

I was surprised when Layton revealed that ‘The Egyptian’ was in fact written before ‘The Summoner’ and impressed that ‘The Summoner’ was such a huge success as a retrospective introduction for the great concept of the series and the totally believable character of ‘Dominic Grey’.

Dominic has gained great strides in establishing himself as a complex, yet highly principled character, who has still to put his early life struggles behind him completely, before he can devote himself fully to the business tasks ahead of him, begin to establish a private life and form any close and trusting relationships.

He always seems to be looking back to the harsh punishments meted out to his mother and himself, by a sadistic and violent father and I get the feeling that deep down, he is still worried that ‘the sins of the fathers will visit themselves on the sons’ and that he will lose control and become like his father. He therefore remains a tense and highly sprung character, always on the edge and living on his wits and nerves, really rather vulnerable and slightly unpredictable, although he is gaining in confidence all the time, as he sets out to establish his own true identity.

This latest mission finds him delving into scientific and industrial espionage on a grand scale, with the secret of eternal life being the coveted prize. A duplicitous scientist, whom Dominic had dared to call ‘friend’, leaves him feeling betrayed, whilst he is caused great moral distaste and dilemma by the nature of the investigation, delving as it does into the realms of ‘Interspecies Genetic Manipulation’.

His quest, on behalf of his client, to seek out the elixir of eternal life, leads him to the heart of the Egyptian desert, where ancient myths and beliefs figure highly. The ‘mummy,’ the ultimate symbol of physical eternal life, and the spectre of ‘Nu’, the watery element of the Egyptian idea of creation, are still sought after and revered by those seeking the ultimate prize of everlasting life, as Dominic discovers even more shocking and disturbing revelations about the true nature of the scientific research, in this fast paced, plot driven, race against time.

In this highly charged environmentViktor, Dominic’s mentor and employer, plays an important, yet shadowy role. Somehow he always contrives to provide a bedrock of calmness and stability within which Dominic can pursue his quarry and is always there when Dominic needs guidance and advice. He is such an interesting, complex and highly intelligent character, who is developing well in his role as advisor to his new protege.

Now that I have encountered Dominic Green in two completely diverse missions and am beginning to engage with his creator Layton Green’s unique style of presentation and writing, I am minded to think back to earlier this week, when I came across a copy of The Devil and All His Works , by Dennis Wheatley, who has long been acclaimed as one of the best-selling authors of the occult thriller. This particular non-fiction book sets out to sum up his findings and conclusions about the many forces of darkness, from the evidence of invisible influences on mankind, to the outward manifestations of those beliefs.

Layton presents similarly extensive research, which he then cleverly grafts into great plots, full of action and intrigue; where the attention to detail and the inevitable clashes of cultures, give each storyline sequence a life of its own, in a totally immersing page-turning adventure, full of suspense and intrigue.

I have no hesitation in rating this book, a resounding 5 out of 5

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This book was a review copy, sent to me by the author, Layton Green and as such, was free of charge.

This in no way influenced any comments I may have expressed about the book, in any review I may have compiled. Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this review.

“This is a brand new meme to display all those beautiful, funny, crazy and even those that make you think book covers you come across each week. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love looking at different book covers. You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but they are sure fun to look at.”

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For my entry this week, I thought that I would use the final cover art for the great new Layton Green book ‘The Egyptian’. The book is not due for release until August 27th 2011, when Layton will be having a special offer event on both ‘The Egyptian’ and his previous, debut novel ‘The Summoner’.

The final cover art was only sent across to me earlier today, to replace the first pass cover art that I have been using to promote the book to date. I think that you will agree that the new art is quite alluring and intriguing and to my mind is much more in keeping with the storyline of the book.

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At a mausoleum in Cairo’s most notorious cemetery, a mercenary receives a package containing a silver test tube suspended in hydraulic stasis.

An investigative reporter tracking rogue biomedical companies is terrified by the appearance of a mummified man outside her Manhattan apartment.

A Bulgarian scientist who dabbles in the occult makes a startling discovery in his underground laboratory.

These seemingly separate events collide when Dominic Grey and Viktor Radek, private investigators of cults, are hired by the CEO of an Egyptian biomedical firm to locate stolen research integral to the company’s new life extension product. However, after witnessing the slaughter of a team of scientists by the remnants of a dangerous cult thought long abandoned, Grey and Viktor turn from pursuers to pursued.

From the gleaming corridors of visionary laboratories to the cobblestone alleys of Eastern Europe to a lost oasis in the Sahara, Grey and Viktor must sift through science and myth to uncover the truth behind the Egyptian and his sinister biotech – before that truth kills them.

The words that are new to me this week, are taken from my ARC copy of a great book, which is not due for release until 27th August 2011 and is an author request for review.

The book has no pre-release details on Amazon as yet, so you can click here to peruse a full synopsis, as supplied by the author.

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‘The Egyptian’ by Layton Green

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Senescence: “Are you knowledgeable about senescence at the cellular level?”

Senescence:

or biological aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity. Such changes range from those affecting its cells and their function to that of the whole organism. There are a number of theories as to why senescence occurs, including ones that claim it is programmed by gene expression changes and that it is the accumulative damage of biological processes.

The word senescence is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning old man, old age, or advanced in age.

I really don’t like the sound of this word, as it is too close to senile, or senility, for comfort!!

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Golem: “The golem grew too powerful, and the rabbi deactivated the golem by erasing the first letter of the name of God.“

Golem:

In Jewish tradition, the golem is most widely known as an artificial creature created by magic, often to serve its creator. The word “golem” appears only once in the Bible (Psalms139:16). In Hebrew, “golem” stands for “shapeless mass.” The Talmud uses the word as “unformed” or “imperfect” and according to Talmudic legend, Adam is called “golem,” meaning “body without a soul” (Sanhedrin 38b) for the first 12 hours of his existence. The golem appears in other places in the Talmud as well. One legend says the prophet Jeremiah made a golem However, some mystics believe the creation of a golem has symbolic meaning only, like a spiritual experience following a religious rite.

I love the sound of this word, although it isn’t the ‘prettiest’ word in the world!

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Syncretism: “The first alchemist reputed to have achieved eternal life. A figure of legend that eventually evolved into a syncretism of Thoth and Hermes.”

Syncretism –noun

1.The attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.

2. Grammar . the merging, as by historical change in a language, of two or more categories in a specified environment into one, as, in nonstandard English, the use of was with both singular and plural subjects, while in standard English was is used with singular subjects (except for you in the second person singular) and were with plural subjects.

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I suppose that this word was a little more obvious and I should have been able to work it out, if I had thought about ‘synchronization’, although this didn’t seem to fit into the religious context where syncretism was being used.

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Megalopolis:“On the other hand, Grey knew from experience that even a megalopolis such as this was deceiving:”

Megalopolis:

1. A very large city.

2. A region made up of several large cities and their surrounding areas in sufficient proximity to be considered a single urban complex.

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I guess I should have been able to work this meaning out as well, but I really didn’t think that it existed as a word, it sounds like something you would find used in a ‘Superman’ film!!!

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Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. It is hosted by Kathy, over at BermudaOnion’s Weblog. You can either stop by and leave a link to your own ‘mystery’ words of the week, or just browse the eclectic mix of words that others have discovered, there is always a great selection. Just don’t forget that Kathy and the rest of us, all love to read your comments as well!!

First Lines

New Orleans, Louisiana Halloween Week “Would you care for a drink?” Clayton Gichaud’s sun-spotted hand trembled as he reached for the Macallan single malt. His silver hair lent an air of gravitas to fleshy jowls and a red-veined nose. “I’m afraid you might need one.” Private investigator Dominic Grey declined the offer. His green eyes, […]

Random Quote

Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.